S. Korea vows financial support to boost overseas infrastructure orders

The Ministry of Economy and Finance on Monday vowed maximum efforts to help domestic businesses win overseas orders, seeking economic revitalization amid the prolonged COVID-19 fallout. South Korea’s preemptive policy move reflected its expectations that key economies will soon expand infrastructure businesses in order to recover from the epidemic crisis. “The government has selected 30 key projects totaling $100 billion, focusing on those that are likely to be successfully com

June 15, 2020

S. Korea, Cambodia to launch free trade talks in July

South Korea is seeking to launch negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement with Cambodia next month, hoping to increase its economic influence in Southeast Asia, according to top officials Monday. The announcement comes as Korea has been expanding its economic ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, amid predictions by experts that the novel coronavirus pandemic will likely accelerate rising trade protectionism, coupled with the diversification of global supply chains fro

June 15, 2020

BOK launches legal team to research digital currency

The Bank of Korea on Monday officially launched a legal team to help smooth the launch of a central bank digital currency and cryptocurrencies rolled out by central banks. The formation of the six-member panel -- comprising external legal experts, lawyers and BOK officials -- was a follow-up to the central bank’s announcement in April, when it said it would carry out a 22-month pilot program until December 2021 to examine how to operate a CBDC system. The BOK had maintained a luk

June 15, 2020

[News Focus] Korea facing significant household debt risks: OECD data

SEJONG -- The level of household debt in South Korea remains high, according to the latest research from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Korea’s 184 percent ratio of household debt to disposable income in 2019 placed the country eighth from the top, meaning debt levels were higher only in seven countries. Data was available for only 33 of the OECD’s 37 member nations, and was compiled in 2018. The figure means that a Korean household with disposable inco

June 15, 2020

S. Korea to set up W300b fund for auto subcontractors

South Korea will set up a fund of 300 billion won ($248.6 million) to provide more liquidity to automobile subcontractors that have been hit by the coronavirus pandemic, a top financial regulator said Monday. Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo said the fund will be jointly set up with carmakers, including Hyundai Motor Co. Hyundai Motor plans to chip in 10 billion won to the fund, and the government has been in talks with other carmakers, Eun said. The fund will provide g

June 15, 2020

S. Korea to help companies win more overseas orders

SEJONG -- South Korea's finance minister said Monday the government will spare no efforts to help companies win overseas orders this year, as part of its efforts to revive economic growth amid the coronavirus pandemic. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said such efforts would help companies clinch overseas orders worth $30 billion this year The government will set up total funds of 3.7 trillion won ($3.07 billion) to aid local firms in winning overseas orders, Hong said. Hong said South Korea pla

June 15, 2020

New jobless people hits record high in May amid COVID-19 outbreak

The number of people who are in search of jobs hit a record high in May as the new coronavirus outbreak hammered the job market, data showed Sunday. The number of jobless people who had been seeking to find jobs for less than three months reached 735,000 in May, up 107,000 from the previous year, according to Statistics Korea. The tally marked the largest figure for the month of May since the agency began to compile data in June 1999. The monthly growth also marked the largest since January

June 14, 2020

US energy, auto, services sectors face prolonged struggle in pandemic era: BOK

US-based firms in several sectors are likely to face a prolonged struggle due to the pandemic, and are even at the risk of producing more zombie firms, a report by South Korea’s central bank said Sunday. “The United States government’s active support has helped resolve the liquidity crunch of US-based firms, but the financial indexes of sectors classified as consumer discretionary, industrial products and energy have been relatively weak compared to others,” the weekly

June 14, 2020

Korea's ICT exports down in May amid coronavirus pandemic

South Korean exports of information and communication technology (ICT) products fell for the second straight month in May, as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic affected demand for displays and mobile phones, data showed Sunday. Outbound shipments of ICT products contracted 2.6 percent on-year to $13.93 billion last month, according to the data from the Ministry of Science and ICT. The May tally follows a 15.3 percent on-year drop in exports in April and a 1.1 percent gain a month earlier, aft

June 14, 2020

BOK chief pledges to build economic resilience to counter pandemic

The chief of South Korea’s central bank on Friday vowed all-out efforts to speed up the country’s economic recovery amid the prolonged coronavirus pandemic, raising the possibility of further monetary easing policies.  In a speech to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the central bank’s founding, Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said monetary easing policies needed to be implemented until signs of an economic recovery appear.  To prompt credit flows in local financi

June 12, 2020

State agencies request 6% increase for 2021 budget

SEJONG -- South Korea's government ministries and state agencies have requested a 6 percent hike in their budgets for next year, as they want to spend more on welfare, research and development, the finance ministry said Friday. Ministries and state agencies have asked the government to set aside a combined 542.9 trillion won ($448 billion) for the budget for next year, up 30.7 trillion won from this year's 512.3 trillion won, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. To cope with post

June 12, 2020

S. Korea says downside risks to economy slightly recede

South Korea's finance ministry said Friday that downside risks to the nation's economy have slightly receded but warned that risks of global recession have weighed on an economic recovery. In a monthly report, called the "Green Book," the Ministry of Economy and Finance painted a somewhat positive picture of the economy, compared with its May report.    "With a decline in domestic consumption showing signs of easing and employment indices recovering, downside ri

June 12, 2020

Vice finance minister sees 'relatively good' sign of recovery in exports

SEJONG -- South Korea's vice finance minister said Friday the nation's exports showed a "relatively good" sign of recovery in the first 10 days of this month, but warned of risks over a second wave of coronavirus infections. Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom made the remarks a day after South Korea reported a 20.2 percent jump in exports for the June 1-10 period. The sharp rise was mainly attributed to a calendar effect because there were more working days, but it raised hopes fo

June 12, 2020

Finance minister warns against housing prices amid COVID-19 countermeasures

While continuing efforts to activate investments and create jobs amid the COVID-19 crisis, South Korea’s top fiscal policymaker once again vowed to stabilize the real estate market, viewing the country’s overheated housing costs as a key economic challenge. The warning tone hinted that the current Moon Jae-in administration prolonging its tight grip over the bubble-prone housing market, regardless of the separate struggle to stimulate the economy at all means. “The regula

June 11, 2020

[Economy in Pandemic] US Fed’s rate freeze to affect S. Korea’s monetary policy, stock market

The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday decided to keep its interest rates near zero, adding that it doesn’t expect to raise it until at least 2022, as the economy recovers from the repercussions of the novel coronavirus. As the Fed’s rate decision has fundamentally sent ripples across the global economy including South Korea in the past -- with the US being the world’s largest economy -- the latest move is also expected to have mixed effects on Asia’s fourth-largest econo

June 11, 2020

Korean economic policies for tackling COVID-19 impact explained in English

The Ministry of Economy and Finance said Thursday it has published an English-language version of a booklet explaining its countermeasures against the economic shock due to the COVID-19 pandemic for the international community. Titled “Safeguarding Economic Resilience,” the booklet introduces a number of fiscal measures that the government has implemented as well as some preliminary policies set up to prepare for the post-COVID-19 era, officials said.  Since February, when co

June 11, 2020

Insurers' lending rises 1.6% in Q1

Loans extended by South Korean insurance companies rose 1.6 percent in the first quarter, but the loan default rate remained unchanged, the financial regulator said Thursday. Insurers' outstanding loans totaled 238.4 trillion won ($200.4 billion) as of the end of March, up 3.7 trillion won from the end of December, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said in a statement. Their loans to households increased 0.1 percent to 121.3 trillion won in the first quarter, while lending to companie

June 11, 2020

S. Korea's exports outdo rivals but still face slump: BOK

South Korea's exports and imports will likely outperform those of major economies this year but face a slump due to sluggish demand in major economies caused by the new coronavirus pandemic, the country's central bank said Thursday. "Global demand for imports is expected to greatly drop this year due to the stronger-than-anticipated impact of the COVID-19 pandemic," the Bank of Korea (BOK) said in a report submitted to the National Assembly. "However, when considering better-th

June 11, 2020

S. Korea's June 1-10 exports jump 20% on more working days

SEJONG -- South Korea's exports soared in the first 10 days of June from a year earlier, mainly due to a calendar effect but raised hopes for a recovery in global trade as more nations eased coronavirus lockdown measures. The country's outbound shipments jumped 20.2 percent to $12.3 billion in the June 1-10 period from the same period last year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. The daily average exports during the 10-day period, however, fell 9.8 percent on-year. Compared

June 11, 2020

S. Korea to help create more jobs in private sector: finance minister

South Korea will help private firms create more jobs, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Thursday, in the latest effort to protect jobs that have vanished due to the coronavirus pandemic. The move came after the government has pushed to create 550,000 jobs in the public sector as the nation's job market remained grim due to falling exports and consumption. The government will encourage private firms to open 50,000 jobs for young people in July, and smaller firms will be given benefits for jo

June 11, 2020